Wishing, Waiting and Hoping - No More!

This was such a fun and quick little finish.  I'm not sure yet how I will finish this piece.  But I can honestly say that after the last few days, I am wishing, waiting and hoping  - no more!  Up until now, we have been spared the brunt of all the East coast storms, but our luck ran out!

We were supposed to start yesterday with a rain/sleet mix. Well, imagine our surprise when we woke up to find about 8 inches of snow instead!  Round two came in the evening in the form of some sleet and freezing rain before turning to snow.  Snow that came down hard and fast!  My birds prepared earlier in the day - my feeder is hanging on a hook by the tree, under the dove on the left.

And by about 11:30 my back deck looked like this:

The tree normally doesn't hang that low, but was weighed down with the ice and snow.  It is perking up today as the sun is melting the pretty stuff from the branches.

After some intense shoveling, the kids (along with some friends) decided to build tunnels.  I remember when my brother and I used to do the very same thing - only we would put water on ours at night to make them ice over!

After coming inside to warm up and have lunch, the boys, and some friends, enjoyed a movie followed by an intense game of Nerf Gun Wars!  After picking up all their Nerf darts, they headed back outside for a snowball fight.  Hopefully the boys will be back to school tomorrow.  They have been home three days this week - one inservice day and two snow days!

I have not stitched any on New England Winter since my last post.  I felt the need to work on some Valentine's freebies and managed to get these done:

Aren't they sweet?  Jennifer from Feathers in the Nest designed these (along with some others) and was kind enough to share them on her blog.  Thanks for sharing Jennifer!  I am hoping to get them finished into little pillows/pinkeeps soon - when the boys are in school and I have a good stretch of quiet time!

Here is the Valentine's edition of "Truly Thankful" from Heartstring Samplery.  I am really enjoying this series and can't wait for the St. Patrick's Day edition!

I might hide some initials in this one - mine and my husband's, what do you think?  I plan to settle in this evening and put my needle to work!

Thanks for visiting!  I'm off for another round of drying snow clothes!  



Thawing Out

Another round of winter weather last night left us with a morning view like this:

One of our wee gnomes looks a bit frozen:

As the day has progressed, the temperatures have warmed and the ice has melted.  Cold weather will be on the way for the weekend again - just in time for my two oldest to spend a day outdoors with the scouts on Saturday!

Since my last post, I managed to complete my snowman:

Stitched a little more on "New England Winter":

I am using 2 strands over 2, except for the white.  I found that I have to use 3 strands of white to get good coverage.  It is giving a nice effect of the snow standing out more.

And picked out some colors to work on the pattern that Lainey sent to me:

It was time this past weekend to sign the boys up for baseball.  Yep....it's almost that time of year again.  My oldest son will be starting practice soon with his travel team.  They have a tournament coming up at the end of March.  Soon my stitching will take place at the fields - but only during practice and warm ups.  Once the game starts I have to watch so I can see this:

I would like to take a moment to welcome my new followers!  Almost 100 people have signed up to follow - I am thankful, as I haven't been at this for very long!

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to stop and visit - I enjoy reading each and every one of your comments!

Stitches, Snow, and Gifts!

Bbbbrrrrrr....it is cold outside!  The snow is on the way!  It will arrive this evening and will be falling here overnight. Tomorrow will be a day for staying in, staying warm and of course stitching!  I hope all of you that have already or are currently facing this storm are doing the same.

I finished the snowman by MollyMade over the weekend and hope to further finish it later today.

My new start is "New England Winter" This is what I was able to accomplish Sunday while the boys were watching football. (I was watching too - just enough to see my Packers beat my Husband's Eagles!)

Besides a trip to the grocery to stock up for the week, yesterday included a trip to the local Amish General store.  I picked up some of these beauties:

I also picked up some pins and buttons to used in finishing.  Can you tell by the colors that I am already looking forward to Spring?

Denise from Riverside Stitching was kind enough to nominate me for the Stylish Blogger Award!  I am  to tell you seven things you might not know about me. 

1.  I love chocolate!

2.  I like sheep.

3.  I collect antique oil lamps.

4.  I enjoy photography.

5.  I was once, if only for a brief second, on 48Hours.

6.  I lived for two weeks with the Cree Indians in the Canadian Arctic.

7.  My graduate studies were in Forensic Osteology (decomposing and skeletal remains).

A pretty random list of things! I am supposed to pass this award on.  However, I enjoy each and every one of the blogs I read, and cannot choose favorites.  If you would like to play along, feel free and consider yourself nominated! 

On Saturday evening, I remembered that I needed to go to my mailbox.  I was positively giddy when I saw this:

My friend Lainey sent me a package all the way from Scotland!  As soon as my boys saw it, they were excited as well.  They are amazed that I have friends from all over!  My little guy asked if he could open it.  Therefore, I didn't get a picture of the wrapped items, as he opened them too fast!  She included some chocolates for the boys and I don't think they even hit the counter before they were inhaled!  Look at the beautiful cards:

A cute snowman pattern (a snowman waiting for snow!) - Lainey loves snowmen!

And my absolute favorite:

Isn't he adorable!  I mentioned that I needed to find a special spot for him and my youngest grabbed him and took off running.  He placed him on the mantle in our living room and there he remains in a place where everyone can see him!  Thank you so much Lainey!!!  You made my day!!!

On a much sadder note, I am sure that everyone knows about the tragedy in Arizona this week.  Well, it hits pretty close to home.  The Green family used to live on the other side of our neighborhood.  Although I did not know them personally, some of my friends and their children did, they were neighbors and friends.  They knew Christina and from what they tell me, she was an amazing young lady.  They are coping with the news of what happened and trying to make sense of it - if that is possible.  Please keep everyone that was affected by this in your thoughts and prayers. 

Thanks for visiting.  I always enjoy reading all your comments!  Stay in, stay warm and stay stitchy!

Some Things Are Better With Friends

Earlier in the week, I knew I was not going to make it to the end of "Live Simply".  My GAST Mulberry was running out!  I was so close!

"Live Simp" required a trip to the Strawberry Sampler.  These trips are always much better if you take a friend or two.  My good friend Brett came along.  She is new to stitching (she just started last fall when her son started full day school) and she seems to be a natural!  She's already trying her hand at linen and acquiring stash!  After a quick stop at the drive-through, we were on our way with coffee and Chai Latte in hand.  Nikki met up with us at the shop. 

The Mulberry seemed to orange and of course I did not take the stitching with me to see how close (or not so close) it was, so Nikki kindly offered to bring hers to the next stitch night hosted by the Sampler to see if any of hers match.  Thanks Nikki! 

I ordered frames for some pieces I stitched last year and found a premade frame for another.  Pictures will follow when they are all put together.  We made our purchases and then headed for some lunch (stash enhancement takes a lot of energy).  We had some interesting conversations and a lot of good laughs - so much so, that we were told we were having too much fun and would have to leave!  We did have to head on our way though, as Brett and I had to get home in time for our boys to get off of the bus. 

I finally finished the PS piece!!

This design is from PS #83 Winter Samplers.  There are three patterns total in this leaflet.  I have one more to stitch!

And, I started a cute snowman by MollyMade (Molly can be found at the Strawberry Sampler!)

I will be stitching some more on this today while watching the snow falling outside.  I am using colors that I have on hand, so there are some changes.  And, I might just start the "New England Winter" from By the Bay Needlearts.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with love, laughter and stitching!

Polar Plunge!

With three boys and a neighborhood full of kids, there are many times throughout the year when we are asked to participate in a fundraiser either by buying or selling.   There is one, however, that is extremely near and dear to my heart.   These are my nieces:

  The younger of the two, on the left, has Williams Syndrome.  This will be the fourth year that her older sister will be taking part in the Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics of VA.  She started doing this when she was just 15!!  This picture was taken at last year's event - looks pretty cold to me!!

Below is a copy of her email that she recently sent out.  I have always passed the information on to my friends per her request.  We are very proud of her for her efforts! 

Thanks for any help you may be able to give in helping her reach her fundraising goal. 

Baby It's Cold Outside!

That means it's time to go swimming in the Atlantic Ocean!

That's right....our annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics of Virginia is coming up.  For anyone that doesn't know (or anyone that's forgotten since last year's email :P), the Polar Plunge is Special Olympics' most important fundraiser.  Thousands of us get together to raise money and take a nice, icy dip so that our athletes can continue to enjoy participating in sports ranging from bowling to wrestling and ensures that they all have crazy fun at State Games and dances.

75% of the money donated in our team goes directly to our local area in Fredericksburg while the remaining 25% goes to the State's funds for Special Olympics.  Anything at all that you can donate is EXTREMELY appreciated by all of our athletes and their families.  I work with an incredible group of athletes and volunteers and SOVA wouldn't be anything without them and your support. 

To get to my personal fund raising site, just follow this link: www.firstgiving.com/karagerenser4
 Thank you so much for your donations and support through the years.  And don't forget to tell ALL your friends!!

-Kara Gerenser  

TUSAL and a Few Goodies

I joined the TUSAL being hosted by It's Daffycat.  Today is the day that we have to show our picture of our ort jars.  Mine is not fancy, just a jelly jar.  Here it is with all my orts that I have collected since last spring:

And here they are all puffed up on the floor:

I emptied it last night and started adding new - looks a little empty doesn't it?

I will save the threads.  Last spring I spread them throughout my garden, hanging them from shrubs and branches, for my bird friends to use when building their nests.  This year I will use an idea I saw in a magazine and put them in an empty suet feeder.  The birds just pull out the threads as they choose.  This will work for yarn pieces too if you are a knitter!

I also wanted to share a few goodies I won before the holidays. 

I was lucky enough to win some fabric squares from BBD.  They will come in handy for finishing smalls -  they are tiny, so I will have to piece them together for most finishing projects. 

Donna from By the Bay Needleart had a contest on her blog to name her newest pattern.  I gave it a go.  My suggestion seemed too simple compared to some of the others, so you can imagine how excited I was when she chose mine!  It is a sweet pattern and I may start this one during our next snow!

Not much stitching progress last night.  Have you ever had one of those nights where your thread keeps twisting and turning and knotting?  The needle had a mind of its own and did not like being threaded.  And, I am running low on the chosen thread for my "Live Simply" stitch, so a trip to the Strawberry Sampler is in order some time this week. (Okay - that part is really fun - not a problem at all!)

Thanks again for stopping by!  I really enjoy reading all of your wonderful comments!

The Holidays, a Quiet House and a Little Stitching

The house is empty now and quiet, very quiet.  Christmas decorations are packed away, my husband has returned to work and the boys are back to school.  It almost feels like the first day of school all over again!

Our Christmas was enjoyed by all this year.  On Christmas Eve, our neighborhood places luminaries in front of every house.  It's beautiful.  I could not seem to get a good picture, but here are a couple I took that night while the boys were lighting the candles:

And here are the boys once we came back inside:

We had a touch of snow on Christmas day and were spared the brunt of the storm that snarled much of the East coast.  We ended up with only a couple of inches and many gusts of wind.  There were hours of Lego building and game playing.  Fun had by all. 

During the week between Christmas and New Year's, not much stitching was accomplished.  We did however take the boys to Baltimore for a day at the B&O Train Museum.

My boys have always enjoyed trains, so we have spent many an hour visiting such places and riding the rails.  Once we were finished, it was time to eat!  Being fans of "Man vs. Food" on the Travel Channel, my men decided they wanted to try out this place as seen on the show:

Can you read the sign?  Chap's Pit Beef.  Sorry about the angle of the picture, but what they fail to tell you on the Travel Channel, is that this establishment shares its parking lot with the Gentleman's Club and across the street is the adult video store!  Yep...close your eyes boys, get inside and let's eat!  Luckily, they paid the surroundings no mind as they were starving!  We never would have stopped here had we not seen the show, but it was well worth it!

We rang in the New Year with our neighbors.  It was a nice mix of about 7 families from the neighborhood.  All 14 kids stayed up to see the ball drop - however, all the boys ran for cover when we told them they were supposed to kiss a girl to ring in the New Year!  I was able to get this stitched to give to the hostess (I need to practice on a few more of these so the toes and heels are more rounded):

New Year's day we had our traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner for good luck, shared with friends.  A nice way to wrap up the holidays.

After everyone was in bed Saturday night, I was finally able to stitch.  I decided to start a little something new and chose this by The Goode Huswife:

When finished, it will read Live Simply.  Something I am going to try and remember in 2011. 

Yesterday, I worked on this piece by Prairie Schooler, started a couple of years ago and then set aside.  I am so close to finishing!

That about wraps it up for now.  2010 was a memorable year.  I wish each and everyone of you the best for 2011.  May it be filled with much love, happiness and stitching!